In December 2021 RELX held Responsible Supplier Sessions exploring themes including living wage, accessibility and modern slavery prevention. This information is particularly relevant to SDGs 8, 10 and 12.
Globally those in slavery, though small in absolute numbers (est. 40.2 million), contribute disproportionately to environmental destruction and carbon emissions. If modern slaves were a country, they would be the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, after China and the United States. Concurrently, anthropogenic changes to the global ecosystem have significant impacts on human life, creating vulnerability and displacement that drive modern slavery.
Companies who can demonstrate purpose—such as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments—will be most likely to survive and thrive. Our reporter visited Tony’s Chocolonely, which was founded in 2006 by a journalist who wanted to eradicate modern slavery in the cocoa industry by developing “100% slave-free” chocolate. Tony’s has since become one of the biggest chocolate brands in the Netherlands, and recently expanded to the U.S. and the UK.
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United Nations University, September 2019.
Directly relevant to SDGs 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), this report explores a public-private partnership which puts the financial sector at the heart of global efforts to end modern slavery and human trafficking and accelerate action in eradicating these practices.
July 30th marks the fifth World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, a call to action—for individuals and organizations—to protect and promote human rights among some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. As part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, and specifically SDG 8 (Decent Work) and SDG 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions), the global community has agreed to eliminate trafficking and companies are expected to meet ethical expectations for human rights standards.
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United Nations University, New York, March 2019.
Focussing on SDGs 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), Dr Alison Gardner, head of the Rights Lab’s Governance Programme, discusses the Slavery-Free Communities Programme’s work, highlighting promising practices in the context of Nottingham and the UK.
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United Nations University, February 2019.
Directly relevant to SDGs 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), this piece explores an innovative methodology for modelling the risk of modern slavery.
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United Nations University, September 2018.
Directly relating to SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), this report offers an analysis of countries' development spending commitments to achieve target 8.7 (eradicate forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking).
At the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday 24 January, Theresa May called on shareholders to put pressure on the companies they invest in to improve their "social impact" supporting goal 10 (reduced inequalities) and goal 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).
Modern slavery risks have risen across the world over the last year, including in 20 of the 28 member states of the EU. On Anti-Slavery Day, this blog looks at the increased risks and numbers of victims of forced labour in supply chains, and how to mitigate these risks contributing to goal 8 (decent work and economic growth).
